High population growth forecast

POPULATION pressures could mean coastal regions such as the Tweed remain a safe bet for real estate, say local agents.

The comments follow a warning from the developer lobby group Urban Taskforce that capital city house prices could fall if the Federal Government moves to stop population growth in the cities by restrictions on housing supply and on where immigrants can live.

The predictions for the Tweed also coincide with a warning by the National Sea Change Taskforce, a coalition of non-metropolitan coastal councils, that population growth in regional coastal areas is outstripping the national average.

That group says population growth on the coast will increase by the “equivalent to another 12 or 13 Gold Coasts” over the next 40 years.

Yesterday principal of North Estate Agents Lance Cotterill said it was difficult to believe any government would block population growth in the major cities but whatever happened the Tweed could look forward to steady growth and slow but steady increase in real estate values.

“Governments have been interested in pouring more people into higher densities,” Mr Cotterill said. “I would be surprised if the federal government would start lifting infrastructure costs by spreading more people over a wider area.”

But he added the Tweed had a “healthy migration” of people to the area, which meant prices were set to go up “a steady 5% per year” despite being held back for the past year.

“You’ve got Altitude Aspire, (Terranora) Seabreeze at Pottsville and Riva Vue at Murwillumbah and I don’t see a problem with population growth at Tweed.”

Chief executive of the Urban Taskforce Aaron Gadiel has warned the Federal Government’s “sustainable population strategy” may declare that some regions, including Sydney, Melbourne and south-east Queensland have reached their “carrying capacity”.